Feasibility of a Therapeutic Trial in Patients with a Damaged Neck Artery

One of the most common causes of stroke in the young (15-45 years) is dissection (tearing) of the arteries in the neck. The usual cause is trauma, frequently combined with a hereditary weakness of the arterial wall. Once the arterial lining is damaged a blood clot forms, which may fragment, with pieces of the clot being carried from their original site in the neck all the way to the brain. The clot pieces can obstruct blood flow in the arterial brain arteries, depriving the brain of oxygen and causing a stroke.

Giving patients aspirin or anticoagulants may prevent this from happening. Researchers have estimated that if approximately 2,000 patients are included in a clinical trial, 1,000 given aspirin and 1,000 anticoagulants, they could determine which drug is superior in preventing stroke. This study is therefore a pilot study (feasibility study) to see if the researchers can recruit sufficient patients to perform such a trial. They plan to enrol 500 patients over two years from the United Kingdom.

Scientific Title: Feasibility of a therapeutic trial in patients with cervical arterial dissection

Classification:
Prevention, Clinical Pharmacology

Publications:

RK Menon, J Norris. Recurrent carotid artery vasospasm or dissection. Stroke 2007; 385:e16

JW Norris, T Brandt. Management of cervical artery dissection. International Journal of Stroke. 2006; 1(2): 59-64

J Norris. Extracranial arterial dissection. Stroke 2005; 36:2041

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